WEBVTT - 2 Kings 17

0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:06.720
<v Speaker 1>Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your

0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:10.720
<v Speaker 1>walk with Christ, please visit us at Bible Study Headquarters

0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:15.200
<v Speaker 1>dot com. You're listening to the Chapter a Day Audio Bible.

0:00:15.720 --> 0:00:20.640
<v Speaker 1>I'm John Stanghi and today we're in Second Kings, chapter seventeen,

0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:26.240
<v Speaker 1>and we'll be reading from the new English translation. In

0:00:26.280 --> 0:00:30.560
<v Speaker 1>the twelfth year of King Ahaz's reign over Judah, Hoshea,

0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:34.680
<v Speaker 1>son of Elah, became king over Israel. He reigned in

0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:38.920
<v Speaker 1>Samaria for nine years. He did evil in the sight

0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:41.519
<v Speaker 1>of the Lord, but not to the same degree as

0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:46.680
<v Speaker 1>the Israelite kings who preceded him. King Shalmaneser of Assyria

0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:51.840
<v Speaker 1>threatened him. Hosheia became his subject and paid him tribute.

0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:55.720
<v Speaker 1>The King of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was planning a revolt.

0:00:56.440 --> 0:01:00.279
<v Speaker 1>Hoshea had sent messengers to King so of Egypt and

0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:03.680
<v Speaker 1>had not sent his annual tribute to the King of Assyria.

0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:08.400
<v Speaker 1>So the King of Assyria arrested him and imprisoned him.

0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:11.560
<v Speaker 1>The King of Assyria marched through the whole land. He

0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:15.800
<v Speaker 1>attacked Samaria and besieged it for three years. In the

0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:19.680
<v Speaker 1>ninth year of Hoshea's reign, the King of Assyria captured

0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:24.520
<v Speaker 1>Samaria and deported the people of Israel to Assyria. He

0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:28.080
<v Speaker 1>settled them in Halla, along the Habor, the river of Gozen,

0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:32.399
<v Speaker 1>and in the cities of the Medes. This happened because

0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:35.920
<v Speaker 1>the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who brought

0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:38.880
<v Speaker 1>them up from the land of Egypt and freed them

0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:42.720
<v Speaker 1>from the power of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. They worshiped

0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:46.240
<v Speaker 1>other gods. They observed the practices of the nations whom

0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:49.680
<v Speaker 1>the Lord had driven out from before Israel, and followed

0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:53.760
<v Speaker 1>the example of the kings of Israel. The Israelites said

0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:56.640
<v Speaker 1>things about the Lord their God that were not right.

0:01:57.240 --> 0:02:00.240
<v Speaker 1>They built high places and all their cities, from the

0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:04.320
<v Speaker 1>watchtower to the fortress. They set up sacred pillars and

0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:07.720
<v Speaker 1>a sheerer polls on every high hill and under every

0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:12.280
<v Speaker 1>green tree. They burned incense on all the high places,

0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:15.359
<v Speaker 1>just like the nations whom the Lord had driven away

0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:20.040
<v Speaker 1>from before them. Their evil practices made the Lord angry.

0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:25.080
<v Speaker 1>They worshiped the disgusting idols in blatant disregard of the

0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:30.360
<v Speaker 1>Lord's command. The Lord solemnly warned Israel and Judah through

0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:34.639
<v Speaker 1>all his prophets and all the seers, turned back from

0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:38.680
<v Speaker 1>your evil ways, obey my commandments and rules that are

0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:43.600
<v Speaker 1>recorded in the law. I ordered your ancestors to keep

0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:47.200
<v Speaker 1>this law and sent my servants, the prophets, to remind

0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:52.480
<v Speaker 1>you of its demands. But they did not pay attention

0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:56.000
<v Speaker 1>and were as stubborn as their ancestors, who had not

0:02:56.120 --> 0:03:00.360
<v Speaker 1>trusted the Lord their god. They rejected his rules, the

0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:03.800
<v Speaker 1>covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the laws

0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:07.600
<v Speaker 1>he had commanded them to obey. They paid allegiance to

0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:12.079
<v Speaker 1>worthless idols, and so became worthless to the Lord. They

0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:16.960
<v Speaker 1>copied the practices of the surrounding nations in blatant disregard

0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:21.079
<v Speaker 1>of the Lord's command. They abandoned all the commandments of

0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:24.320
<v Speaker 1>the Lord their God. They made two metal calves and

0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:27.840
<v Speaker 1>an ashi a poll, bowed down to all the stars

0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:32.280
<v Speaker 1>in the sky, and worshiped bail. They passed their sons

0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:36.760
<v Speaker 1>and daughters through the fire, and practiced divination and omen reading.

0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:40.200
<v Speaker 1>They committed themselves to doing evil in the sight of

0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:44.080
<v Speaker 1>the Lord and made him angry. So the Lord was

0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:48.160
<v Speaker 1>furious with Israel and rejected them. Only the tribe of

0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:52.440
<v Speaker 1>Judah was left. Judah also failed to keep the commandments

0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:56.680
<v Speaker 1>of the Lord their god. They followed Israel's example. So

0:03:56.760 --> 0:04:01.640
<v Speaker 1>the Lord rejected all of Israel's descendants. He humiliated them

0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:05.200
<v Speaker 1>and handed them over to robbers until he had thrown

0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:10.280
<v Speaker 1>them from his presence. He tore Israel away from David's dynasty,

0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:15.440
<v Speaker 1>and Jeroboam's son of Nebat, became their king. Jeroboam drove

0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:18.560
<v Speaker 1>Israel away from the Lord and encouraged them to commit

0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:22.880
<v Speaker 1>a serious sin. The Israelites followed in the sinful ways

0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:28.040
<v Speaker 1>of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and did not repudiate them. Finally,

0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:31.479
<v Speaker 1>the Lord rejected Israel, just as he had warned he

0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:36.080
<v Speaker 1>would do through all his servants the prophets. Israel was

0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:40.039
<v Speaker 1>deported from its land to Assyria and remains there to

0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:44.839
<v Speaker 1>this very day. The King of Assyria brought foreigners from

0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:51.320
<v Speaker 1>Babylon kuthah, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and settled them in

0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:55.800
<v Speaker 1>the cities of Samaria in place of the Israelites. They

0:04:55.800 --> 0:05:00.120
<v Speaker 1>took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. They

0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:02.960
<v Speaker 1>first moved in, they did not worship the Lord, so

0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:05.880
<v Speaker 1>the Lord sent lions among them, and the lions were

0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:10.560
<v Speaker 1>killing them. The king of Assyria was told the nations

0:05:10.600 --> 0:05:13.880
<v Speaker 1>whom you deported and settled in the cities of Samaria

0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:17.159
<v Speaker 1>do not know the requirements of the God of the land.

0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:20.880
<v Speaker 1>So he has sent lions among them. They are killing

0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:24.440
<v Speaker 1>the people because they do not know the requirements of

0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:27.880
<v Speaker 1>the God of the land. So the King of Assyria

0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:31.680
<v Speaker 1>ordered take back one of the priests whom you deported

0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:34.960
<v Speaker 1>from there. He must settle there and teach them the

0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:38.560
<v Speaker 1>requirements of the God of the land. So one of

0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:42.119
<v Speaker 1>the priests whom they had deported from Samaria went back

0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:45.920
<v Speaker 1>and settled in Bethel. He taught them how to worship

0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:49.800
<v Speaker 1>the Lord. But each of these nations made its own

0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:52.560
<v Speaker 1>gods and put them in the shrines on the high

0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:56.839
<v Speaker 1>places that the people of Samaria had made. Each nation

0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:00.560
<v Speaker 1>did this in the cities where they lived. The people

0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:05.719
<v Speaker 1>from Babylon made Sucketh Benath, the people from Kuth made Nergal,

0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:11.480
<v Speaker 1>the people from Hamath made Ashimah. The Avites made Nibhaz

0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:16.120
<v Speaker 1>and Tartak, and the Cepharvites burned their sons in the

0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:21.320
<v Speaker 1>fire as an offering to Adrammelek and Animelek, the gods

0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:26.400
<v Speaker 1>of Sephar Vain. At the same time they worshiped the Lord,

0:06:27.480 --> 0:06:30.000
<v Speaker 1>they appointed some of their own people to serve as

0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:34.280
<v Speaker 1>priests in the shrines on the high places. They were

0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:37.120
<v Speaker 1>worshiping the Lord and at the same time serving their

0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:41.080
<v Speaker 1>own gods, in accordance with the practices of the nations

0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:45.200
<v Speaker 1>from which they had been deported. To this very day,

0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:49.720
<v Speaker 1>they observed their earlier practices. They do not worship the Lord.

0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:53.720
<v Speaker 1>They do not obey the rules, regulations, law, and commandments

0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:57.080
<v Speaker 1>that the Lord gave The descendants of Jacob, whom he

0:06:57.160 --> 0:07:02.400
<v Speaker 1>renamed Israel. Made an agreement with them and instructed them,

0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:06.800
<v Speaker 1>you must not worship other gods. Do not bow down

0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:11.440
<v Speaker 1>to them, serve them, or offer sacrifices to them. Instead,

0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:14.880
<v Speaker 1>you must worship the Lord, who brought you up from

0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:18.920
<v Speaker 1>the land of Egypt by his great power and military ability,

0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:24.360
<v Speaker 1>bow down to him and offer sacrifices to him. You

0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:29.680
<v Speaker 1>must carefully obey at all times the rules, regulations, law,

0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:33.280
<v Speaker 1>and commandments he wrote down for you. You must not

0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:36.720
<v Speaker 1>worship other gods. You must never forget the agreement I

0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:41.200
<v Speaker 1>made with you, and you must not worship other gods. Instead,

0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:44.800
<v Speaker 1>you must worship the Lord, your God. Then he will

0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:49.200
<v Speaker 1>rescue you from the power of all your enemies, but

0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:54.600
<v Speaker 1>they pay no attention. Instead, they observe their earlier practices.

0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:59.160
<v Speaker 1>These nations are worshiping the Lord and at the same

0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:04.640
<v Speaker 1>time serve their idols. Their sons and grandsons do just

0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:13.480
<v Speaker 1>as their fathers have done to this very day. Let's pray, Lord,

0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:15.760
<v Speaker 1>we thank you for your word, and we thank you

0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:19.440
<v Speaker 1>for all the things that you make abundantly clear to

0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:22.040
<v Speaker 1>us when we read it. And Lord, we could see

0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:25.200
<v Speaker 1>by example that the people of Israel and Judah, even

0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:28.200
<v Speaker 1>though they had been rescued by you, even though you

0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:31.720
<v Speaker 1>had established them in their land, and even though you

0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:35.640
<v Speaker 1>continually sent your message to them through the prophets, they

0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:38.360
<v Speaker 1>went their own way. And Lord, we could see that

0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:40.760
<v Speaker 1>the people living in the land of Israel made it

0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:44.200
<v Speaker 1>a pattern and a practice to follow the customs of

0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:46.559
<v Speaker 1>the nations that you had driven out of that land.

0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:51.360
<v Speaker 1>They worshiped idols, they sacrificed their children, and then those

0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.600
<v Speaker 1>that came after them paid lip service to worshiping You.

0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:57.840
<v Speaker 1>They worshiped their former gods while at the same time

0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:01.400
<v Speaker 1>claiming to be worshipers of yours. And Lord, that's the

0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:05.840
<v Speaker 1>spot that we can find ourselves very easily in as well. Lord,

0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:08.520
<v Speaker 1>we know that salvation comes only through faith in your

0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:11.360
<v Speaker 1>son Jesus Christ, and so we pray Lord that you'd

0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:14.640
<v Speaker 1>help us to have genuine faith in your son. But

0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:18.040
<v Speaker 1>we know, Lord that so often we can find ourselves

0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:21.520
<v Speaker 1>trying to find satisfaction for our hearts and for our

0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:25.120
<v Speaker 1>souls through lesser things, through the idols that we invite

0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:27.920
<v Speaker 1>into our lives. But Lord, we know that that's not

0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:30.079
<v Speaker 1>your desire for us, and so we pray Lord that

0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:33.200
<v Speaker 1>you'd help us, by your grace, as your Holy Spirit

0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:36.880
<v Speaker 1>illuminates this truth to our hearts, to identify things that

0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:39.720
<v Speaker 1>we've welcomed into our lives as idols, that we would

0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:43.760
<v Speaker 1>cast them aside, and that we would worship you sincerely

0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:48.200
<v Speaker 1>and truly all the days of our lives. Lord, we

0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:50.520
<v Speaker 1>love you. We thank you for your love for us,

0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:53.200
<v Speaker 1>We thank you for your patience with us, and we

0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:55.280
<v Speaker 1>pray Lord that you'd help us to conform to the

0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:58.360
<v Speaker 1>image of your son Jesus Christ throughout the course of

0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:01.160
<v Speaker 1>this day and every day that we we commit this

0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:03.400
<v Speaker 1>day Lord to your care. We thank you that you're

0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:05.440
<v Speaker 1>with us in the midst of it, and we pray

0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:08.920
<v Speaker 1>this all in Jesus' name Amen